Ukrainian intermediate range ballistic missile. The R-12 was the first operationally effective intermediate range ballistic missile, the first Soviet missile deployed with a thermonuclear warhead, and the first mass-produced missile in history. 2,300 of the storable propellant rockets were built and deployed in both mobile and silo-based versions for thirty years, from March 1959 to June 1989. It was a primary element in the Soviet deterrent threatening Western Europe and China throughout the Cold War. Deployment of R-12's to Cuba in 1962 precipitated the Cuba Missile Crisis.

Development of the R-12 was begun in 1950 under Theme N-2 (long range storable propellant missiles). D D Sevruk at OKB-3 of NII-88 conducted the first design work. His pre-draft project envisioned a missile of the same diameter as the R-5, but with 50% to 100% more range. Mikhail Yangel completed the project. He proposed the use of toxic but storable liquid propellants. His bosses, Mishin and Korolev, vehemently opposed this approach. They believed military rockets would be safer using cryogenic liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants. Nevertheless by 13 February 1953 Yangel had completed the development project plan for the missile, with technology tests being conducted at NII-88. Missile tsar Ustinov supported Yangel's approach, and it seemed the only way for the missile to be developed was to move the responsibility away from Korolev.

On 9 May 1951 a resolution had been issued creating an R-1 production facility at Factory 586 at Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine, with Vasiliy Budnik as its Chief Constructor. Ukrainian-born Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev was promoting the missile production factory and proposed to give Yangel a new design bureau on its premises. This would further the economic development of Ukraine and encourage the development of missiles using storable propellants. The decision was made to move Yangel and the R-12 there as well. A decree issued on 13 December 1953 ordered Factory 586 at Dnepropetrovsk to complete the R-12 design. On 9 July 1954 Yangel was named head of the facility and specifically assigned by Defence Minister Smirnov to develop storable propellant rockets for the army and navy. Development of the R-12 intermediate range ballistic missile was approved on 13 August 1955. The government resolution assigned the missile the industrial index 8K63 and scheduled trials for April 1957.

The draft project was completed in October 1955. A key issue during design was whether the missile could reach the 2,000 km specified range with the maximum allowable payload mass using the planned RD-211 engines - the thrust was simply too low. Engine designer Glushko had designed the RD-211 with four combustion chamber / nozzle assemblies. Each was double the thrust of the V-2-based RD-100 engine, but all four were fed by common turbopumps. Initial tests of the new-design cylindrical combustion chamber showed good results, and versions of this engine were being simultaneously developed for the R-7 ICBM (the RD-107, using liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants) and the Buran intercontinental cruise missile booster (RD-212, using nitric acid/kersosene).

The RD-212 was underpowered for the Buran application, so the design was abandoned and development undertaken of the RD-213 with 22% more thrust. A similar decision was taken in regard to the RD-211 for the R-12, which resulted in the RD-214. Development of the RD-214 began in 1955, and trials started in 1957. These included experimental tests to thoroughly ring out the motor, including on/off operations, off-stand component tests, and demonstrations of pulsed engine operation. Following this first series, necessary modifications were made, and the second test stand series was completely successful. In March 1957 a complete four-chamber prototype engine was installed in the R-12 'iron bird' at Zagorsk for integrated firings with the missile.

Yangel was also committed to providing the R-12 with the Soviet Union's first autonomous inertial navigation system. Korolev's rockets had all used radio-corrected guidance, which could be jammed in wartime. The inertial navigation system planned for the R-12 was tested on R-5M missiles before the R-12 began its flight tests.

For the R-12 Yangel selected the same simple cylindrical 'pencil' configuration as had been used on the R-5M. Korolev, passionately committed to optimum aerodynamics in rockets, favoured the conical designs and 'sharp point' configurations originated by captured German engineers. He declared 'this pencil will not fly'. In defiance of Korolev, the first R-12 test launch was made from Area 21 at Kaputsin Yar on 22 June 1957. 25 R-12's were launched in three phases of test and trials launches through 27 December 1958. The pad-launched version was accepted for military service on 4 March 1959. Khrushchev visited Yangel's Factory 586 in Dnepropetrovsk in July 1959, handed out awards to OKB-586 collectively, and personal awards to Yangel, L V Smirnov, and B S Rudnik.

Between 1956 and 1959 there was an internal controversy as to whether long-range rocket units should be formed within the Red Army, the Long Range AIr Force, or both. This was finally settled on 17 December 1959, when a new branch of the armed services, the RVSN Strategic Rocket Forces, was formed under Marshal Nedelin. The R-12 was to be the first widely-deployed missile for the new service.

Mass production was undertaken beginning in 1958 at three factories in addition to Factory 586: Factory 172 (PMZ Lenin) in Perm, Factory 47 (PO Strela) in Krasnoyarsk, and Aviation Factory 166 (PO Polyot) in Omsk. Omsk and Krasnoyarsk became subsidiaries of OKB-456 in December 1958 and September 1959, and production was stopped there in the early 1960's. Production finally was completed at Perm in 1967, with 2,300 of the missile being built.

Special launches of modified R-12's were made to test subscale versions of the Raketoplan and BOR series of spaceplanes. From 1967 Perm built several special variants for ABM field exercises and testing of ballistic missile countermeasure systems. These included the 8K63E 'List', 8K63K 'Kaktus', 8K63V 'Verba', and 8K63Kr 'Krot'.

Spetsmash began development of the mobile launch system for the missile in 1953. The R-12's launcher was a modification of that already designed for the R-5M. The concept was that the missiles would be stored in a shelter (the 'technical position'). In the vicinity of the shelter were numerous pre-surveyed concrete hard stands, from any of which the missile could be launched. The missiles had a guaranteed seven-year storage life in unfuelled condition. The response time of the missile (from go order to launch) depended on the 'readiness condition'. There were four of these defined for the R-12:

Readiness condition 4: the missile was stored at the technical position unfuelled, and without the gyro package. Guaranteed life in this condition was seven years, with 205 minutes reaction time from go order to launch.

Readiness condition 3: the missile was in the technical position with the gyros and warhead installed. Guaranteed life three years, reaction time 140 minutes.

Readiness condition 2: the missile was installed on the launch pad. The gyro system was installed and brought to readiness, then shut down. Fuel connections were made, but no fuel was pumped into the rocket. The missile could be held for three months in this state, with a 60-minute response time.

Readiness condition 1: the missile was on the pad as in readiness condition 2, but fuelled with TG-02 kerosene. To launch required only activation of the gyro package and pumping of the corrosive AK-27I oxidizer. In this condition the missile could be held for one month with a 30-minute reaction time.

Compared to earlier missiles the R-12 differed in having the 430 kg inertial guidance system located in the intertank section between the fuel and oxidiser tanks. The oxidiser was AK-27I (27% N2O4 and 73% nitric acid) and the fuel TM-185 kerosene. The TG-02 Samin catalyst for the fuel was a Russian version of the German Tonka-250 formulation (50% Triethylamine / 50% Xylidine). The oxidiser was pressurised by gaseous oxygen, the fuel by air. Following burn-out of the single-stage rocket, explosive bolts separated the warhead and it was ejected pneumatically from the missile. Once launched, the missile had a time of flight of 11.8 minutes. Maximum velocity at burnout was 3530 m/s, and warhead accuracy 6 km in range, 5 km laterally.

In order for the missile to keep stability in transonic and supersonic flight, there were two oxidiser tanks forward. The lower tank was drained first in order to match the shifting centre of pressure as the missile accelerated. This had not been a problem in earlier rockets with liquid oxygen oxidiser, which was 33% less dense. The missile's control system regulated the flow from each tank before and after the missile went through the sound barrier.

Service History

On 15 May 1960 the first R-12 regiments were activated at Slonim, Novogrudok, and Pinsk in Byelorus, Pulnge in Lithuania, Gezgaly in Kazakhstan, and Sovietsk in Kaliningrad. Each regiment consisted of 2 to 3 launch divisions, each division of two batteries with one launcher. Therefore there were 4 to 6 launchers per regiment.

The engines in the first production missiles were found to pulse due to hot catalyst in the turbopumps. The problem was only fixed following a series of controlled tests of the engine and an aggressive quality assurance program for production missiles. The R-12 was first displayed publicly at a Moscow parade in 1961. American intelligence estimated that 2,300 R-12 missiles were built, with peak deployment being 608 silos and missile launchers in 1965. No Russian figures for production or deployment have been declassified.

The R-12 obtained international notoriety during the Cuban missile crisis. Khrushchev and the Soviet leadership decided to deploy three regiments of the 13th Rocket Division with R-12 IRBM's (24 launchers) and two regiments of longer-range R-14's (16 launchers) to the island of Cuba. The missiles would provide a deterrent to US attack on the island. It would also provide the Soviet Union with a missile deterrent force matching the American Thor and Jupiter missiles in Britain, Italy, and Turkey. By the middle of October 1962, 36 R-12's with nuclear warheads were in Cuba. This precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, bringing forces of the US and Soviet Union into direct armed confrontation. In the end Khrushchev agreed to withdrawal the missiles from Cuba. In exchange he obtained secret US assurances never to invade Cuba and to withdraw the Thor and Jupiter missiles.

By the mid-1970's a typical R-12 regiment consisted of two fixed base divisions and one mobile division. Each fixed division consisted of 2 batteries, each battery with 2 rockets. A mobile rocket regiment consisted of 5-8 launchers, 11-14 transport vehicles, 6-7 support trucks, and 41-52 fuel transports. During launch operations the control vehicle and the launcher were separated by 175 m.

A missile forces veteran remembers that the R-12 and R-14 were deployed primarily on surface launch pads. While he was in service he visited at least 15 launch sites: Sovietsk, Gvardeisk, and Znamensk in the Kaliningrad enclave; Taurage and Ukmerge in Lituania, Elgava and Dobele in Latvia, and Postavy and Lida in Belorussia. His own regiment in Priekule, Latvia had 6 silo-based R-14's and 3 R-14 on surface pads. Both the R-12 and R-14 used the same SP6 surface launch pad complex.

The R-12 was replaced beginning in 1977 by the SS-20 Pioner solid propellant missile. In 1987 the US and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty, eliminating intermediate range nuclear missiles in Europe. Under the treaty 149 remaining R-12 missiles were scrapped. Of these 65 were in military service at the time of the treaty signature and 84 were stored in weapons dumps. The R-12 missiles were withdrawn from service in June 1989 and destroyed in the presence of US inspectors at Lesnaya in Belarus. The final R-12 was destroyed on 23 May 1990. However the R-12 story was not quite over. It was reported in January 1998 that the R-12 design had been sold to Iran and formed the basis of their Shabad 4 IRBM. By 2004 it was said that this had been abandoned, but that R-12 technology had been applied to an improved version of the Shahab 3 IRBM.

R-12 Variants

A train-based R-12 with 'hot reload' capability was designed but never got into development. At the beginning of the 1960's a chemical warhead was developed for the R-12. This used the 'Tuman' cassette-type warhead to disperse the agent over a wide area after re-entry. A silo-based R-12U and a light orbital launch vehicle, the 11K63 Kosmos-2, were developed from the R-12, and are treated in separate entries. The latter used a new second stage to reach orbital velocity.

The R-12 was launched with live nuclear warheads on several occasions. In June 1961, in preparation for the first such test series, an attempt was made to fire an R-12 with a functional nuclear warhead without a fissile core toward the Arctic atomic test ground on Novaya Zemlya from a position east of the city of Vorkut. This launch attempt was aborted when an electrical fault was detected. Rather than risk firing the faulty missile, Yangel and Omsk Factory Head Kolnpayev shipped a new production rocket from Omsk.

The first live warhead tests were on 10/12 or 12/16 September 1961 as part of Operation Roza. Two R-12's propelled thermonuclear warheads with different yields from Vorkut and Salekhard to target areas on Novaya Zemlya. These launches were made by the same batteries that would be deployed to Cuba a year later.

Further end-to-end tests of the R-12 with a live nuclear warhead were made in June-July 1962 as part of Operations K1 and K2. In this case the prime purpose was to evaluate the electromagnetic pulse effect of nuclear explosions in order to design anti-ballistic missile systems, survivable radars, and missile silos.
The R-12's were launched toward the prototype ABM site at Sary Shagan.

In October-November 1962 R-12's were used in operations K-3, K-4, and K-5 to explode thermonuclear warheads at altitudes of 300, 150, and 60 km. These high altitude tests were designed to test electromagnetic pulse effects on electronics, especially ABM system radars. They disrupted communications over a wide area for over an hour.

In 1958 the R-12 was selected, together with the R-2 and R-5, as target vehicles for tests of the Dunay-2 ABM system. 11 target flights were undertaken, 3 of them by R-12's. The first R-12 target flight was conducted on 4 March 1961 in a test of the V-1000 ABM missile. After completion of the state trials the Aldan ABM complex was declared operational. The S63U target version of the missile was used again in certification tests in 1976-1977 of the 3(V)350Zh missile.

Kosmos 2 In 1960 the Soviet government decreed development of a lightweight launch vehicle for launch of payloads not requiring R-7 family of boosters. A modification of the R-12 IRBM was selected as the first stage; a new high-performance second stage was developed using a unique Lox/UDMH propellant combination. After two failures, the first successful flight was on March 16, 1962. More...

Kapustin Yar Russia's first missile test range and used for satellite launches of smaller Kosmos vehicles. V-2's launched from here in 1946 were the first ballistic missiles fired on Soviet territory. It was greatly expanded as the test site for innumerable Soviet intermediate and short range missile projects in the 1950's.. Kapustin Year was also headquarters of the first operational R-1/R-2 units, 1950-1953, and later a base for 12 operational R-14 missile launchers. Kapustin Yar was known to have been used for over 3519 major launches from 1946 to 2007. More...

Chinese plan satellite launch by December 1959 - .
Nation: China. Related Persons: Tsien. Spacecraft: Project 581. Tsien and his colleagues set an initial goal of launching a satellite by the end of 1959. They see no reason to copy the antiquated R-2 missile being transferred from Russia, and want to make a great leap to an intermediate range missile capable of serving as the first stage of a satellite launcher. It very quickly becomes that this is much too ambitious and totally impossible.